Artist

BiographyIn 1603 the 12-year-old Gerard Seghers was registeredas an apprentice in the Guild of St. Luke inAntwerp. Early sources indicate that he studied withHendrick van Balen and Abraham Janssens. Seghersbecame a master in 1608. It is possible that he workedwith Peter Paul Rubens for a period after 1608. InJanuary 1611 Seghers became a member of the JesuitConfraternity of Bachelors in Antwerp. He seems tohave travelled to Italy shortly afterwards. Joachim vonSandrart notes that in Rome Seghers studied theworks of Bartolomeo Manfredi, a follower of Caravaggio.Seghers adapted Manfredi’s style of paintingwith its half-length figures and strong contrastsbetween light and shadow. He also chose Caravaggesquesubjects such as card-playing soldiers andgroups of musicians. Seghers travelled to Spain shortlybefore 1620, where he was active at the court ofKing Philip III. Seghers returned to Antwerp in theautumn of 1620 and assisted Rubens in the decorationof the Jesuit church there. During the 1620sSeghers gradually adopted a painting style influencedby Rubens. His association with the master continueduntil the middle of the 1630s when he was one ofthose involved in the decorations for the TriumphalEntry of the Cardinal Infante Ferdinand intoAntwerp in 1635. In 1637 he was made court painterto Ferdinand. Seghers was very active socially becominga dean of the Romanists Association in the city in1637 and of the Painters’ Guild in 1645. He was alsoactive as an art dealer.